New Sony Xperia phones tipped for launch on 12 November

Sounds like Sony has a new launch event planned, with two new models pencilled in. Well, we say 'new', but one sounds like a slight variation of a current handset.

According to Android Community, citing Chinese sources, an event is planned in China for 12 November. First on the agenda is Sony Xperia Z1S, which is another spin-off from the Z1 flagship. Yes, it sounds just like the Xperia Z1F pictured above and launched in Japan not long ago. It could be the same phone, but for a worldwide market, especially as speculation is pointing to a 4.3-inch 720p display and the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. Time will tell.

The Xperia Tianchi is a very different beast. Yet to be given its Xperia name, it is flagged up as a budget phone with its MediaTek chip instead of the more popular Qualcomm. However, this will be MediaTek's 2GHz MT6592 or MTK6592, described as the company's first 'True Octa Core' processor, allowing all eight low-power Cortex-A7 cores to be used simultaneously. The Xperia Tianchi is also said to be packing a large 6-inch display with a 1280×720 resolution.

A Chinese launch hints at the Chinese market initially, but a budget phablet sounds a winner wherever you live, so we would expect it to be heading elsewhere too.